Unexpected Ally
by moonswirl
Summary: *part three of the Silent Ally series* sorry it took so long, i finished this a while ago but forgot to post it... follows right after they come face to face with the girl...
1. Introductions

Unexpected Ally  
  
Part three in the Silent Ally series  
  
Part 1  
  
No one made a single move for the first few minutes after the 'unveilment' of this new alien. They had expected an adult, or even someone their age. But the possibility of this person being a child had never crossed their minds.  
  
The girl looked at them, observing them one by one. She knew they would have questions for her and she didn't blame them. Max had been thinking back to what she had told him during their connection.  
  
"How long have you been here?"  
  
"Ten years."  
  
She barely looked five... how could she have been there ten years?  
  
When no one had done or said anything for a while, she got a look on her face. She was becoming frightened a bit, so to be safe she took one or two steps back. Tess took a couple slow steps forward, which resulted in the girl backing up that much as well. Tess smiled and crouched.  
  
"Hey, it's okay," she reassured her gently, "You can trust us, we won't hurt you." The girl looked to her, taking two or three steps forward. "Can I come closer?" Tess asked her. She hesitated for a second, then nodded. After taking a few steps forward, Tess smiled to the girl again. The two now stood about two feet apart from each other. "Are you living here alone?" she asked her. The girl nodded, sadness showing on her face. "I'm sorry," Tess said, "It must be lonely to..." She didn't get to finish as the girl hurriedly took the last few steps and threw her arms around her neck, squeezing into a hug. Tess was surprised by the gesture, instinctively closing the hug by picking the girl up, putting one arm on her back while the other served as support. "It's okay..." she whispered, finally realizing the girl was trembling.  
  
After a minute she seemed to calm a bit, pulling herself back while keeping her arms around Tess' neck, looking into her eyes. Tess moved her second arm to support as well. The girl put her hands on either side of her face, and they were soon connected. The girl had her eyes closed, images of Tess' life appearing in her mind. Finally she opened her eyes and 'spoke'.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"Tess... Tess Harding. What's yours?"  
  
"I... I don't have one... or at least I don't know what it is."  
  
"Oh... can you talk?"  
  
"I'm not allowed to... other than this way... Will you help me?"  
  
"How?"  
  
"To communicate with them... Also to connect with them, it would save them the trouble of having to come down to MY eye level."  
  
"I understand. What do you want me to do now?"  
  
"I'll break the connection in a few seconds. Explain to them what I just told you."  
  
"Okay." The girl removed her hands and they were no longer connected. Tess looked to the others, who'd observed them through this time. Tess did as she'd promised and repeated what she'd been told. The girl pointed to the person at the left end of the line they formed, Alex. He smiled and Tess carried the girl to him. She could see he was a bit nervous. She took that into consideration when she 'spoke' to him, having seen images from him.  
  
"This is a bit scary for me, too."  
  
"Thank you," he responded.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"Alex Whitman," he answered.  
  
"Nice to meet you," she smiled before breaking the connection. Alex didn't seem as nervous now, if at all. The girl turned to Tess, as if to say she was ready to move to the next person. Tess nodded and walked to Kyle. After seeing Kyle's images, she looked to him. "You're not worried at all, are you?"  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"Thank you..." she said, letting him say his name.  
  
"Kyle... Valenti."  
  
"Thank you, Kyle," she nodded, removing her hands from his face. She'd already seen images from Max, so when she was in front of him, she gave him a look, waiting for him to say his name. He smiled.  
  
"I'm Max Evans," he introduced himself, then shaking her little hand, "Nice to meet you." She let out the first sound they'd heard from her, in the form of giggling. She seemed as surprised as them when she heard it, never having heard her own voice, let alone her laugh. Finally, they movied to the next person in the line, Liz.  
  
"Hello!" she greeted her cheerily, still excited from hearing herself.  
  
"Hi," Liz responded with a grin, "I'm Liz Parker."  
  
"Hello, Liz, good to meet you, too."  
  
"Thank you." Next was Michael. When she looked to him, her face changed, like she was trying to remember something. She quickly connected to him.  
  
"I know you..." she said slowly, "You were in the car with the woman... that's how you knew, wasn't it? That's how you found this place."  
  
"Yeah," Michael responded.  
  
"I had a feeling I'd see you again..." she smiled, "What's your name?"  
  
"Michael. Michael Guerin."  
  
"Nice to see you again, Michael." The connection ended and he nodded. They moved to Maria. After seeing her images, the girl seemed pleased at what she saw. "Hello," she greeted her happily.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"What's your name?" she asked again.  
  
"Maria DeLuca."  
  
"Good to meet you. Hope I didn't scare you too much, before."  
  
"It's okay." Last in line was Isabel. Having already connected with her as well, she just waited for a name.  
  
"I'm Isabel Evans," she told her, then at the look she gave her, "I'm Max's sister." The girl smiled. She turned back to Tess and reconnected with her.  
  
"I'll show you around, now... so you have to put me down now," she explained.  
  
"Okay," Tess answered her before the connection was ended once again. She put the girl down as instructed. The girl walked a bit before turning back to the group and waving her hand to indicate that they should follow. She walked to the trap door and crouched in front of it. She waved her hand over it and a handle appeared. She pulled on it and the door opened. She climbed down the ladder and waited for the others. One by one, they joined her. They looked around the medium-sized room. There was a bed in the corner, a table and a chair. Boxes lined the walls, stopping next to a couch.  
  
"Wow..." said Alex. The girl seemed proud of the reaction her home caused in them.  
  
"How can it be so lit up in here?" asked Maria, "There aren't any lamps or candles or anything..." The girl shrugged. They all took seats, either on the bed or the couch. Tess sat on the chair, the girl sat on the table next to her.  
  
"Tour over?" Tess smiled to her. She shrugged again. "Well there wasn't much anyway, right?" The girl shook her head. "Where's the rest of your clothes?" asked Tess, looking around the room and seeing nothing resembling clothes anywhere. The girl indicated her dress. "Just that one? What if it gets dirty?" The girl shook her head. "It doesn't get dirty, ever? Never dropped food on it or anything?" She looked around again and noticed there wasn't any food either. "Do you eat?" She shook her head. "But you can, right?" The girl nodded. She realized something and felt ridiculous for having forgotten that detail. "Of course it wouldn't get dirty... at least if it did you could just... erase the stain..." The girl nodded. "That makes more sense..." The girl smiled. "So what do you do all day?" The girl began miming some activities, Tess identifying them. "Sleep... run... draw... observe... all day?" The girl nodded. "How long have you been here? she asked. The girl turned to Max, so that he could her, since she'd told him before, already.  
  
"She's been here ten years."  
  
"What?" Tess asked, looking back to the girl. She nodded, seeing the surprise on all their faces.  
  
* 


	2. Explanations

Part 2  
  
Sensing she'd have some explaining to do, the girl connected with Tess again. But this time she seemed to be talking through her.  
  
"I know you're all probably wondering a lot of things right now..." she said through Tess, "So here it is..." She took a breath, then went on. "I have no idea how I got here. All I know about my arrival is that I woke up in my bed one morning, but before that... nothing. That was ten years ago, in the summer..."  
  
"That's when we came out of our pods," said Max. "Then there has to be something that connects her being here, with us..."  
  
"Yes," the girl continued.  
  
"So what is it?" asked Michael.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"What?" exclaimed Michael.  
  
"I have no idea why, I just don't know yet... I do know that one event should trigger the knowledge... it just hasn't happened yet."  
  
"So what DO you know about us?" asked Isabel.  
  
"I know... we're the same... our 'alien side'... it's the same."  
  
"Makes sense," said Max.  
  
"But how come you still look so young?" asked Liz.  
  
"I don't really understand that part either... I haven't aged, grown,... my hair hasn't gained any length in ten years..."  
  
"Why wouldn't you grow?" asked Maria.  
  
"I don't know... I awakened knowing a lot of things, but those subjects weren't part of it."  
  
"What DO you know?" asked Max.  
  
"Well... I know about the crash in 1947... I knew about the 'no changing, no talking, food not necessary', and other things like that... I knew what I was, what my powers and my purpose were. I knew the name for things I'd never seen. I've never seen... a firetruck. But I could draw you one... you see where I'm going with this?"  
  
"I'm starting to," said Isabel. "But wait... if you're not supposed to talk to us, then..."  
  
"It's simple..." she assured, "To talk to you like this... it requires for me to think the words through. That prevents me from saying the things I shouldn't, to the ones I'm allowed to 'speak' to, and to say anything to the people I shouldn't talk to." She stopped, then laughed a bit. "I'm sorry, this is probably confusing."  
  
"It's fine," Max assured her.  
  
"So, uh... what's in all those boxes?" asked Liz, pointing to them.  
  
"Hold on," she said before breaking the connection. Tess gasped shortly and looked slightly dizzy. Kyle stood and went up to her.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked her.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, still a bit out of breath, "That was just... wow." She looked back to the girl. "Thank you for sharing that with me." The girl smiled.  
  
"Share what?" asked Kyle.  
  
"Everything... everything she did for the ten years she's been here... Or most anyway..."  
  
The girl hopped down to the ground and went to the boxes. She picked up one and put it on the ground. She sat on her knees and opened the box. She put her hand in and pulled out a stack of paper. She handed it to the bunch on the couch. Liz took them and started leafing through them while the others watched from the sides. It didn't take long for them to realize something.  
  
"It's us..." Liz whispered. She looked to the girl and she was nodding in confirmation.  
  
"She said she knew we'd come..." said Tess from her seat. The girl nodded to this as well.  
  
"Are there drawings in ALL those boxes?" asked Max. The girl shook her head to say "No". She pointed to one box and Michael stood to go get it. She gave him a nod to tell him to open it. Inside he found many used pencils. Some were colors and some weren't. He picked up a few color ones and observed them. He looked to the girl and she nodded again.  
  
"What?" asked Alex. The girl stood and went to Michael. She took his hand and connected with him. Once she'd shown him what he needed to see, she let go and smiled. All eyes were on Michael, so finally he explained.  
  
"She can make people think some stuff... kind of like Tess can. She had people bring paper and pencils to her from time to time. They never really remembered." Maria observed him.  
  
"There's more," she declared. Michael looked to the girl. She went to Liz, who still held the drawing pile, and began looking through it. Finally, she held up one sheet. It featured a car, a woman, and a little boy. The woman held a pad of paper and a box of color pencils. The boy was inside the car, looking at his mom as she walked towards something that wasn't on the picture. Liz, Maria, and the others on the couch looked to the girl. She pointed to the boy on the drawing, then turned and pointed to Michael. "Are you saying..." started Maria. The girl nodded.  
  
"She did it a couple times before I knew anything. Mom would just leave for a couple hours and when she came back, it was like she hadn't gone anywhere. Dad never knew anything about it. Then one day, I went with her. We ended up here. Mom got out of the car with a paperpad and pencils she'd just bought. She went to the door, put them in front of it, then she came back to the car and we left. When we got home, it didn't take long to figure out she didn't remember any of it happening. So I didn't say anything to her about it. I didn't tell you guys either because I didn't think there was anything to do about it. After that time I was with her, it never happened to her again."  
  
The girl looked up to Tess, as if to ask if she felt strong enough to reconnect. Tess nodded that she was. Kyle lifted the girl to where she'd been sitting before and she reconnected to Tess.  
  
"What made you come here other than the picture..." she asked the other aliens. Max and Michael turned to Isabel. She reached for the chain around her neck and the pendant attached to it.  
  
"We found this... in Atherton's dome," she explained.  
  
"Do you know anything about it?" asked Max. As they were connected, the girl's surprise showed on Tess' face.  
  
"Michael..." she said, "Go to the entrance, wave your hand above the frame." He didn't question her and did as she asked. The moment he'd waved his hand over it, the frame evaporated and a small pouch fell to the ground. He bent to retrieve it. "Open it," she instructed. He did so, turning it over above his hand to catch the contents. What dropped into his hand was a small piece of metal. He didn't really understand, but he showed it to the others.  
  
"Michael, wait... give it to me," said Isabel suddenly. Michael gave it to her, not understanding what SHE was now starting to. Isabel held up the small piece from the puch up to the broken end of the pendant around her neck. The two pieces interlocked perfectly. 'Tess' smiled.  
  
"Then it's official... it really IS you I've been waiting for all these years..."  
  
"How could you have known we'd find the necklace, that we'd take it with us before we left?" asked Max.  
  
"I just did..." she explained slowly.  
  
"But what does it mean?" asked Isabel.  
  
"Honestly... nothing," the girl explained, "Nothing other than the fact that YOU'RE the ones I've been waiting for. You're the ones I'm supposed to help out." The room was silent for a while. Everyone looked to the other people in the room, especially the girl. "We need to discuss some things, here," the girl finally spoke out.  
  
"You're right," Max said.  
  
"But I'll need to do it through someone else... she's getting too tired..."  
  
"I'll take over," Max announced.  
  
"Okay," the girl agreed, "Kyle, come here. You need to be ready to catch her." He nodded and crouched before Tess. The girl nodded and broke the connection. Tess let out a small whimper as she slumped forward into Kyle's arms.  
  
* 


	3. Decisions

Part 3  
  
Kyle helped Tess over to the couch as Max sat on the chair by the desk. The girl tapped on his shoulder and he turned around. She nodded to ask if he was ready. He nodded back that he was before turning back into position. The girl placed her hand on his back and they connected.  
  
"Tess, are you okay?" was the first thing she said. Tess looked up slowly and smiled. "Alright, so where were we?"  
  
"Well... we were talking about what we found at Atherton's," said Isabel, "We had more, but..."  
  
"They were robbed," said Michael, "Someone broke into our house and took the papers we found at the dome."  
  
"I know," said the girl. All looked up to her.  
  
"What do you mean you know?" asked Alex.  
  
"It was me," she explained.  
  
"How?" asked Liz.  
  
"Well, not ME, but someone I 'told' to go there, take the papers, make it look like a robbery, and bring the papers back to me."  
  
"But why?" asked Isabel.  
  
"It had to be done," the girl answered simply.  
  
"So where are they? What did you do with them?" asked Tess.  
  
"Destroyed," she told them.  
  
"What did you do that for? It was maybe the first real clue we had..." Michael started, getting agitated.  
  
"Michael, listen to me," the girl said, "Those papers would never result in something good. Atherton had it all wrong. It would have sent you on a path you would never want to take. Trust me when I tell you... you're all better off this way." No one talked for a while as they all tried to make sense of this new information.  
  
"But wait," said Isabel, "How did the necklace end up there?"  
  
"I don't know," said the girl, "It was there for you to find when you'd go..."  
  
"How much do these people... whoever they are... how much do they know about what's supposed to happen?" asked Michael.  
  
"I don't know... it's not like I've met them... I'm only telling you what I know... even if I don't know how I came to be aware of it..."  
  
"Well what are we supposed to do now? You said you're supposed to help us, but... help us how?" asked Michael.  
  
"I know this will sound a bit redundant, but... I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do that..." said the girl slowly.  
  
"Well one thing's for sure..." said Tess as she stood up.  
  
"What?" asked the girl.  
  
"We won't get anywhere, or find anything, if we have to come all the way out here everytime we want to see you..." Tess explained.  
  
"I'm not sure I understand..." said the girl.  
  
"Come with us... back to Roswell."  
  
"I-I don't know if that's such a good idea..."  
  
"I think Tess is right," said Isabel.  
  
"We don't have much of a choice, here. You'll be able to help us much better if you're close by," said Michael. The girl hesitated for some time before she finally spoke up.  
  
"Alright... But we'll need to get some information straight."  
  
"Like what?" asked Michael.  
  
"Well... I need some kind of backstory... identity... I need a name."  
  
"I may have an idea," said Kyle, raising his hand into the air slowly, "As far as a backstory goes..."  
  
"Are you sure it would work?" asked Isabel.  
  
"Almost completely, yes..."  
  
"Then we'll take it... but that still leaves a name..." said Isabel. All stopped to think. Tess had been thinking back to when she'd helped her aunt Melissa look up names for her baby and remembered one that, if she remembered the meaning correctly, would fit perfectly enough.  
  
"What do you think of the name Cailin?" she asked the others. They thought for a few seconds before each began nodding. They turned to the girl... it WAS her choice after all.  
  
"I love it, it's perfect!"  
  
"Well then... Ready to come back with us, Cailin?" asked Tess with a smile. Cailin seemed suddenly nervous.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Liz.  
  
"I-I've never been out there before, I don't know..."  
  
"Don't worry, you'll be okay. I promise. You'll be safe with us," Tess assured her.  
  
"Well... let's go then," said Cailin before breaking her connection with Max. He appeared slightly dazed but generally okay.  
  
"Guess we should get going," said Kyle. All nine lined up by the ladder to climb back to the dome's main level. Once they'd all made it out of the room, Cailin closed the door and waved her hand over it to make it disappear. She turned to the others and Tess held out her hand to her. Cailin smiled and took it. They walked up to the entrance and Cailin waved her hand out to open the door. Isabel, Alex, Maria, Michael, Liz, and Max walked out first. Tess could sense Cailin's fear as she stood beside her. She crouched next to her.  
  
"Hey..." she whispered, "You can do it, don't be afraid..." The girl looked to her and finally nodded. Tess stood and walked out. She turned and held out her hand to the girl once again. Cailin stretched her hand out into the slowly fading sunlight, finally resting it into Tess' own hand. She lowered her head, looking to her feet as she stepped out of the dome, out of the only home she'd known in the years since her awakening. Once she was out of the dome, she smiled up to Tess. "See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Tess smiled back to her. Cailin turned her head and waved her free hand to close the door again. They split in two groups as they headed to the cars.  
  
"So what's the plan?" Maria asked, "Where are we meeting?"  
  
"My house house... we'll be able to talk freely there..." said Kyle.  
  
"Alright then, let's get a move on!" Isabel called out as the two groups got in the two cars. They didn't go in their original seating arrangement this time. Isabel, Alex, Kyle, Tess, and Cailin were in the Jeep, while Max, Liz, Michael, and Maria took the Jetta. Kyle, Tess, and Cailin sat in the back, with Cailin in Tess' lap. She had her eyes fixed on the scenery passing by, letting the wind blow through her hair.  
  
Tess looked at her and couldn't help smiling. She vaguely remembered the night she and the other three had come out of their pods. She'd been so disoriented... suddenly leaving the only place she'd known and going to an unknown destination with a bunch of strangers... She imagined that Cailin must have been feeling the same thing right at that moment. At least she'd be with them... and they'd make sure she'd be okay if it was the last thing they did.  
  
Tess turned to look at Kyle with a grin when Cailin let out a small giggling sound at one point during the ride. He smiled back to her.  
  
The sun was almost down when they went past a sign that indicated they'd arrive in Roswell shortly. For some reason, she couldn't wait to see Cailin's reaction to the city. It was amazing how close she felt to this person she'd only met a very short time ago. They'd formed a connection, beyond the one which had allowed Cailin to communicate with all of them. She knew it deep down, and it helped bring everything into focus.  
  
"Cailin, look... we're almost there," she whispered to the girl as they entered Roswell. Cailin turned and smiled up to Tess. She started pointing things out to her as they drove through town.  
  
As they neared the Valenti home, Tess turned to Kyle. "Is your dad home at this time?"  
  
"I'm not sure. He should be done working by now, but it doesn't mean he'll go straight home..."  
  
"Do you think he'll mind having all of us there at once?"  
  
"I'm sure he'll be okay with it. Besides, when he sees her," he said, pointing to Cailin, "He won't be able to turn us away. He turns into a big softie around kids." He winked and Tess smiled.  
  
* 


	4. Introductions, part 2

Part 4  
  
The group in the Jetta was the first to arrive at the Valenti home. They parked on the street and got out of the car. "They're not here yet," said Maria, "What do we do? Do we go inside now or do we wait for them?"  
  
"They can't be too far behind. We should wait," said Max. They stood in the driveway silently for about a minute.  
  
"Maybe we should go wait in the car," said Liz, looking around.  
  
"They'll be here any minute now," said Michael. He looked up at the house just as Jim Valenti was coming out of it. "Great..." Michael sighed.  
  
"What?" asked Liz and Maria.  
  
"Hey," Jim called out, "What are you guys doing out here?" He walked up to them.  
  
"We're waiting for the others to get here," Max explained.  
  
"Yeah, they should get here soon..." continued Michael.  
  
"Any minute now..." added Liz.  
  
"Yep," Maria finished.  
  
"Well... why don't you come inside to wait. I don't mind."  
  
"Well, we want to wait for them out here, if that's alright," said Michael.  
  
"Yeah, sure. If you want to," Jim nodded.  
  
"We do," said Michael.  
  
"Okay," Jim nodded again. They were silent again.  
  
It had been a few weeks now since Jim had learned the aliens' secret. He was mostly fine with it, even starting to adjust to all this new information. However, that still didn't keep some awkward silences to slip into their conversations once in a while.  
  
"So did you, uh,... Did you find anything at that, that dome... place."  
  
"Yeah, we definitely found something there," said Maria, exchanging a look with the others.  
  
"Or more accurately, we found... someone," Max explained.  
  
"Really..." said Jim, sudden curiosity showing on his face.  
  
"Yeah..." Liz nodded, "That's kind of why we want to wait here. The others are bringing her over."  
  
"Oh... okay then," said Jim.  
  
"Is that okay with you?" asked Max.  
  
"Of course it is," Jim answered sincerely. "You know you're all always welcome here."  
  
"Thank you," said Max.  
  
"I think they're coming," Maria spoke up suddenly. They all looked to see the Jeep driving down the street. Inside the vehicle, they could tell Cailin was getting excited. When the car stopped, she looked up at Tess expectantly.  
  
"We're here," she whispered to her. Isabel, Alex, and Kyle were first to come out of the car.  
  
"Dad," Kyle greeted Jim when he saw him, "We all have some stuff to talk about, and it'd probably be a good thing for you to be there."  
  
"Of course," Jim nodded, "So where's this person you found at the dome?" In that time, Tess had come out of the Jeep, helping Cailin afterwards, then carrying her toward the others. The girl had no shoes on, and Tess didn't want to risk her getting hurt.  
  
"She's right here," Tess spoke up. Jim looked up and saw Tess and Cailin.  
  
"Well hi there," the Sheriff smiled. In his attempt to greet her, he had reflexively picked up the child's hand, unaware that he'd just facilitated her to communicate with him.  
  
"Hello!" she greeted back through the connection. Jim seemed surprised by this, but still kept the contact with her.  
  
"What's going on here?" he asked her.  
  
"Don't be scared, I won't hurt you," she assured him. She'd been told about him briefly on the ride over, so she knew she could trust him. "You're Kyle's dad, right?" she asked him. He was already starting to relax around her, although he wasn't sure why.  
  
"That's right. But you can call me Jim. I hope you don't mind me asking you this, but are you a... I mean, are you..."  
  
"An alien?" she concluded for him, "Yes, I am. Maybe we should continue this inside or we'll start attracting some attention we may not want to attract."  
  
"Right, of course," said Jim before the connection was broken. The ten of them headed inside the house and went to sit in the living room. They were a bit tight in their places as there was a lot of them and not much room to fit them in. "Someone want to tell me what's going on, here?" Jim asked the others.  
  
"I'll do it... if you guys want me to," Tess volunteered. They nodded for her to go ahead. So she explained it all, saying Cailin had been 'responsible' for the robbery, then going on to explain about Isabel injuring herself, then the door to the dome opening up. She told him about going in and coming face to face with the cloaked Cailin. Next, she told him how Cailin had revealed herself to them after healing Isabel, how she'd connected with each of them to communicate with each of them to communicate as she had before, and that they had learned some things about her. Tess told him that Cailin couldn't speak outloud, that she COULD eat, but it wasn't necessary. Finally, she told him how Cailin had been in that dome waiting for them by herself for ten years.  
  
"Wow," said Jim when Tess finished, "That's... quite a story. One I still don't understand enough to see how I fit into all this." The others all looked to Kyle.  
  
"You said you had an idea..." Max reminded him.  
  
"Right... well, it's simple. Cailin needs to be close by. She can't stay with people who don't know about the whole... thing," he explained, pointing skyward on the last part. "And since... out of all of us, there's only one house where all the residents know what's REALLY going on... I think she should stay here." They looked to each other, considering this option.  
  
"Kyle's right," Tess finally said, to which the others agreed. "Sheriff?" she asked Jim, "Are YOU okay with this? Wouldn't want to force this on you. It IS your home, after all..." They were silent for a few seconds.  
  
"Of course, it's fine," he finally nodded slowly. Everyone else seemed to let out a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding.  
  
"Thank you," Cailin said, through a quick connection with Tess.  
  
"You're welcome," Jim smiled.  
  
"That just leaves one more thing," Isabel pointed out. They turned to her. "It's one thing to say she'll be staying here, but... we'll have to make her be out in the open. I mean, we can't keep her hidden. If someone happened to see her at some point by accident, we'd have some serious explaining to do. And besides, she's been 'hidden' long enough, don't you think?"  
  
"You're right," said Tess, "But what do we tell them? What do we say if they ask who she is?" Jim looked to his son.  
  
"How do you feel about a visiting cousin?"  
  
"What?" Kyle asked, confused.  
  
"If she was your mother's sister's daughter, no one would question why they've never heard of her. We can say her parents needed her to stay somewhere for an... undetermined period of time."  
  
"That's perfect," Tess nodded.  
  
"So I guess we're cousins now," Kyle grinned to Cailin. The girl smiled and went to hug him. The others laughed shortly. Everyone stayed a while longer. When they had to leave to go have dinner, Tess was the last one out. She crouched in front of Cailin and held out her hand. Cailin understood as she took it and connected with her.  
  
"Will you be okay here? I could stay with you tonight if you'd like."  
  
"I'll be fine," Cailin assured her. She didn't really understand why Tess was so worried about her, but she liked the feeling of being cared about that much.  
  
"Alright... but if you ever need me..." Tess started.  
  
"I'll have Kyle or Jim call you," Cailin finished for her. Tess smiled.  
  
"Well... good night."  
  
"Good night." They were silent. Finally, Cailin hugged Tess. Eventually, Tess had to let go and leave but she knew Cailin would be okay.  
  
  
End of part 3 of the Silent Ally Series. 


End file.
